Episode 78 – James and Donnacha Blow Up the Marketplace

Well, this episode was a real monster, containing plenty of chewy insights and nutritious facts on the realities of running a WordPress marketplace with add-ons by third-party developers.

James returns and explains the sad reason for his mysterious two month hiatus, putting Donnacha’s gripes about relationship squabbles and man-flu into rather stark relief.

James has a plan to get back into shape, because no-one who knows Jean is allowed to be out of shape. Donnacha agrees that having a friend like Jean, who possesses a perfect life, can be tough. James and Donnacha agree that a man who has no actual problems has no business being so wise. Fuck that guy.

Donnacha compliments James’ studio design by calling him a twelve-year-old. The psychological impact of design upon performance. Spending obscene amounts of money on a microphone while children in Puerto Rico don’t even have lapel mics.

Getting into the meat of the show, Donnacha refers back to last week’s episode in which he and Mark tore into the realities of WordPress add-on marketplaces, resulting in a decision to somehow trick James, who owns just such a marketplace, to spill the real dirt.

Where was James’ business, Ninja Forms, when he and his business partner decided to open up and sell add-ons by third-party developers?

How has that decision weathered the tests of time as the business has continued to grow?

What are James' future plans with regard to third-party developers?

How Easy Digital Downloads inspired Ninja Forms original decision to embrace the add-on model.

How a tweet inviting developers to submit add-ons resulted in their first third-party add-on just two days later - the MailChimp add-on by Pippin.

How writing an add-on that ties into a third-party API, such as MailChimp, might actually be ridiculously easy, especially if you are already familiar with that API.

How that gesture, by a well-regarded developer such as Pippin, was a bit boost to Ninja Forms.

How a marketplace allows you to have third-party developers expand the functionality of your product in return for giving away that slice of your future potential profits, and why that makes sense for a small business striving to achieve big things.

Why it makes sense to integrate your product, as quickly as possible, with as many CRMs and other services as possible, because you get to tap into their audience, and how it would be near impossible to create that many add-ons without third-party developers.

Why you can’t just hire some junior developer and have them spend all-day, everyday, banging out your own add-ons for all those services, and keep 100% of all those future add-on sales.

The dangers of selling someone else’s code under your brand.

What Ninja Forms expect from third-party developers, how the money is split, what their responsibilities are, and the level to which they must be familiar with the nooks and crannies of the services that their add-ons integrate with.

The background of their most prolific third-party add-on developer.

What happens when a marketplace relationship goes sour, who gets to keep the kids?

The one add-on that James really wishes they had built themselves, but it is still a mutually beneficial relationship when you consider the bigger picture.

Donnacha’s favorite Ninja Forms add-on, Videomail, and why he thinks its current marketing is a big fat missed opportunity for both Videomail and Ninja Forms.

How Ninja Forms $499 Agency membership, which includes unlimited use of all add-ons, works out for their third-party developers.

The difference between Ninja Forms pricing and Gravity Forms pricing, and why James could not have aimed for the pricing he did if earlier WordPress products, in particular Gravity Forms, had not laid the foundation, and how future products by other developers will, in turn,